Haunting
by KadiToka-Chii
Summary: Childhood fears are too easily forgotten.


**Haunting**

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**||This is not just to satisfy my chibi fetishes, I'll swear it to God. Just so you know.**

**I actually started this one a long time ago. Back when I was convinced that Gus was destined to be backstabbed by Spectra. It was half-way done when I lost interest; just lately I got – reinterested. So don't think that my three-updates-in-a-week is due to magnificient skill on my part… it's just it's been in my "WIP" folder for months now, and needed to be kicked out. I ended up staying well past twelve o'clock in a stubborn obsession to finish it already. …So expect it to be rushed and sucky. :3**

**… And pretty much everything Villi and Seju tell Gus is completely made-up. They're the attempted scary stories of tiny peoplez. Meaning they aren't scary, but to a younger recipient they're absolutely terrifying.**

**||Disclaimer: I do not own Bakugan. I do like to think I own little Seju and Villi, though. You know, since I created them…**

**||Gus-centric, with ze OCs, Big Sis Villi and Cool Cousin Seju also in, most unfortunately, starring roles. Also has a thus far rudimentary idea of Gus' aunt.**

**And yes, it is a corny childhood!fic. Bear with me.**

**||Childhood fears are too easily forgotten.**

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"Hey, Gussy… you believe in phantoms?"

Large green eyes blinked uncertainly as the familiar freckled face loomed just inches from his, bearing a sinister smirk. He cowered back instinctively against a thin chest, tiny hands clutching at the ratty stuffed bear he had grabbed from the head of the bed earlier. "What's a pa – pham – phanta –"

"Phantom~." The trilling voice just above his head was quick to correct, carrying with it a giggle. Fingers continued to brush through feathery locks of blue before falling away as Villi propped her chin up onto her little brother's head, smile mirroring their cousin's as she wrapped her arms around the boy in a would-be protective gesture.

"You believe in them?" Seju repeated, bronze eyes glittering just behind straggles of turquoise hair as he continued to stare at Gus. "Do ya?"

He was answered by a whimper. "I-I don't… even know what y-you're talking about…"

"It's like a ghost." Seju's grin stretched further with pleasure as Gus blanched. "Only _worse_."

Villi snorted as Gus shirked away from the cousin creeping his way off his own bed, shoved against the other wall, to join the siblings on Villi's bed.

"I don't believe in ghosts. Mommy said they aren't real," Gus mumbled awkwardly, eyes avoiding the older children's as he squeezed Villi's toy bear protectively.

"Well then, you wouldn't have a problem hearing about them, eh?" Seju settled himself happily in a cross-legged position at one end of the bed as Villi turned around to face him better, despite the reluctant young boy on her lap. "Since they _don't exist_. Right, Gussy?"

Gus cringed at the clear challenge in Seju's voice and murmured out a scratchy, "No…"

"Perfect~!" Villi sang, patting his head supportively as Seju hopped back off the bed. "Look at my little bro, being so cool… aw~, you're just so cute, I love you so MUCH~! Don't ever stop being cute, 'kay~?"

"Oka–HEY!"

"Aw, is Gussy afraid of the dark?" Seju tittered as the room went dark, discernable against the ray of dusty light that squeezed through the small door opening. The silhouette soon vanished as the door was shut all the way. "Come on, this is the perfect atmosphere for telling you about _phantoms_…"

"Don't worry, Gussy~!" Villi chirped brightly, voice ringing in the dark. "Your big sis will make sure you don't get _eaten~!_"

"_Eaten?!_ W-why would I get eaten?!"

"Because of the _phantoms_, of course!" The bed squeaked as it shifted with the rejoining weight, Seju's voice bouncing around Gus' ear. "You never know, there might be one in the room, at this _moment!_"

"WHAT?!"

"That's right…" Warm breath curled the hairs around the younger boy's ear as Seju leaned closer, voice low and gravelly. "Phantoms exist in the _world of the unseen_."

"They're _dead_," Villi supplied helpfully. Seju gave her a sharp glare as Gus gasped.

"Hey, mind being more _suspenseful_? 'World of the unseen' sounds a lot more mysterious."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, you know what? 'World of the unseen' ain't exactly accurate. Because they're _dead_. Unseen don't always mean dead."

"They ain't dead, _stupid_. If they were dead, they wouldn't be able to rip your heart out and eat th–"

A muffled shriek interrupted the impending debate; two pairs of eyes turned back to Gus, who had his hands fisted at his mouth. Villi cooed, dark olive eyes glistening. "Yes, Gussy~. Phantoms like to rip out hearts and _eat them~._ Course, they're partial to brains and guts too…"

"W-Why?! How?!"

"How d'ya think?" Seju lazily prodded Gus' chest, smirking when the younger boy yelped. "They just stick their hand right in there. Rip through your tummy, chest, head, whatever, and grab a hold of the insides, then they pull 'em out and gobble 'em up."

"And the thing is," Villi interrupted, "you can't escape from them. When they _really_ wanna eat you, then they will. They won't give you the chance to run away, and if you try to, then they'll just snatch you up again."

"But it's not like you'd want to escape them."

"Why not?!" Gus' breaths was becoming shorter as he tried to squirm away; Villi refused to relinquish her hold on him, only releasing one hand so that she could brush a finger along his pale cheek gently. "I-If they're going to e-eat you, then you should wanna run away!"

"Because the phantoms make you think—" His grin turned wolfish as Seju trailed his fingers slowly up to Gus' shoulder, up his neck, before lightly caressing his cheek, just as Villi was. "—that they're your _friend_."

"They talk to you," Villi said, her voice a persuasive hiss in his ear. "And act really friendly. And then before ya know it, you're talking back, telling them everything about yourself. All your fears 'nd hopes 'nd dreams… but it's not like you need ta tell 'em, they can read your mind, so they already know…"

"But it works out either way, because by that point, you're _totally_ duped." Seju nodded wisely, crossing his bony arms. "By that point—"

"—they _own your souls_," the girl finished, her whisper chilling against the back of Gus' neck. The younger boy blanched as he took in several half-gulps of air, and his eyes flickering across the room in hopes to look at anything other than the fervent leers on his sister's and cousin's face –

– _but the walls were closing in around him, the posters of athletes Seju admired and the action figures lined erratically along their shelf snickering and sneering, and the darkness was settling heavily on his goosebump-riddled skin, sticky and coagulated in thick patches, and his breath was being squeezed out of him by the second _–

"How," he managed to wheeze out, fingers nearly strangling the teddy bear, "d-do you kn-know all this…?"

"How?" Seju leaned back, head tilted to the side thoughtfully; his murky eyes seemed to glow gold tonight in the half-light. Villi giggled again, her "hug" tensing around him. "How do you think?"

Gus' breath hitched in his throat, for just a second. "I-I don't kn—"

He didn't get a chance to finish speaking. Didn't get a chance to blink, didn't get a chance to scream before Villi's hands were digging determinedly into his arms, and Seju was leaping forward, fingers tickling across his flannel pajama shirt and searching for a place to tear right through cloth and flesh. Two voices rose up in an insane cackle, united in their declaration. "We _are_ phantoms!"

Enough was enough.

"AUNTY!"

The creak of a door and the flick of a switch answered Gus' shrill plead; Villi and Seju fell away with yowls of surprise and disappointment, and their victim was scrambling free and fleeing towards his saviour. The said saviour scowled irritably –threatening behind purplish-red, tangled hair – at the miscreants as her nephew clung to her leg, burying his face into the fuzz of her housecoat to muffle his dry sobs.

Villi and Seju shared a nervous glance before turning towards the doorway, solemn-eyed, as the woman leaned down tiredly and scooped Gus into her arms. He gladly accepted the embrace.

The glower was once again focused on the two of them. "What did I tell the two of you about bringing Gus into your room?" she asked, voice slow and amber eyes seething as she rubbed Gus' back soothingly.

"We weren't _doing_ anything to him, Mommy," Seju piped up, humbled from the tormentor he had been thirty seconds prior. "We were just talking, and telling him some stories—"

"_What did I say?_"

"…It's not allowed, Aunty," Villi supplied weakly as Seju winced at the brittle tone.

"Exactly. What made you think you could go _against_ that?"

Seju perked up a bit, eager to use this chance to clear their names. "Like I said, we weren't doing anything, just telling him stories!"

His mother wasn't fooled in the least. "What _kind_ of stories?"

"…Ghost stories."

She sighed in exasperation, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. "He's _four years old, _for god's sake, didn't you think that maybe you _shouldn't_ be telling ghost stories?" There was no pause for an answer. "Seju, you're eight, you have to grow up – I'm even more disappointed in _you_, Villi, you're _nine_ already. You're the oldest, and he's _your_ little brother."

The girl squirmed, tugging nervously at her dark-blue hair. "I-I'm sorry, Aunty…"

"I'll deal with you two in the morning. In the meantime, _get to bed_." With one last warning glare, Seju's mother stepped out of the room and closed the door firmly behind her, leaving the remaining occupants to whirl on each other.

"You!" Seju spat, finger pointed accusingly, "Why'd you go 'nd spill the beans for?! You coulda said we were telling him fairytales or somethin'!"

Villi snorted, raising her sharp fists menacingly. "Well, you know what?! That was _my_ little brother you were being a total jerk to! Don'tcha know he's a weakling?! I can't believe you ever said that we should scare him like that!"

"Wha—don't gimme that! You wanted to see the look on his face too! Come on, wasn't it priceless?"

"…Yeah, it was… but still! _My_ little brother!"

"It's not like I made you go along with it—ack, no-!"

---

"Aunty?"

She suppressed a yawn, opting instead to run a weary hand through the boy's hair as she eased open the door to his room, making her way to his bed; Villi's ratty old bear still hung limply from his tiny grip, and bounced slightly with each step. "Yes, honey?"

"When are Mommy and Daddy getting back?"

"Hm…" Gently, she set Gus down on his bed; he wasted no time in wiggling under the sheets and pulling them up to his chin protectively. "In two days, I think they said it was. Yes… that was it. They'll be back before you know it, okay? And then you wouldn't have to put up with mean cousin Seju scaring you anymore for a while."

Gus stiffened up a bit defensively. "H-He isn't _that_ mean…and he didn't _scare_ me."

"Of course not, honey. Well, sweet dreams." And now, away back to the comfort of her own bed, and sleep, oh blessed and holy sleep –

"Aunty?"

Her steps faltered, half-way to the door. "Yes… Gus?" Oh god, she just wanted to _sleep_…

"I don't wanna phantom to get me."

Sighing, she turned around; large green eyes, too big for such a small face, stared at her seriously, quivering in the light from the hallway. It brought a sympathetic smile to her face. "Don't worry. We'll make sure a phantom doesn't get you."

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**||As always, I ask for critique. I was really too lazy to check it over word-for-word, so did I quick scan. Feel free to point out any errors or missing words, and I'll get right to fixing them.**

**Also, there's a request I must make; I need opinions/critique on mini!Villi and mini!Seju? They'll probably be "reappearing", so to speak, in another fic at a much later date, so I want to make sure their characters aren't… blergh. Granted, they're waaaay different when they're older, but still.**

**I am sooo not used to OCs. :P**


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